IAEA To Send New Expert Mission To Chernobyl NPP In Coming Weeks - Chief

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send a new expert mission to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) in Ukraine in the coming weeks for nuclear safety assistance, Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2022) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send a new expert mission to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) in Ukraine in the coming weeks for nuclear safety assistance, Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday.

"I am dispatching 2nd mission to Chornobyl NPP in coming weeks. IAEA experts to provide support on radiation protection, waste management safety, nuclear security, and to conduct safeguard activities. Safety and security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities remains my top priority," Grossi said on Twitter.

In late April, IAEA inspectors and technicians, as part of an expert mission headed by Grossi, visited the Chernobyl NPP to restore the transmission and recover data from the monitoring systems.

The NPP continues to operate as usual, with radiation levels assessed as normal, according to the IAEA and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian aggression.

On February 25, the Russian airborne forces took control over the Chernobyl NPP. Russian troops and Ukrainian soldiers within the NPP guard battalion reached an agreement to jointly secure power units and sarcophagus of the NPP to ensure that nationalist formations or other radicals would not take advantage of the crisis in Ukraine to organize a nuclear provocation. On April 2, Grossi said that Russia had confirmed the withdrawal of its forces from the Chernobyl NPP.